An overnight shelter initiative that began in 1993 at St. Mary Parish in Royal Oak to give the area's homeless community a warm place to spend frigid winter nights has expanded and today includes seven churches in the surrounding areas, including Berkley.

The warming shelters open in mid-December as snow begins to fall and remain open until mid-March. For these three months, the shelters open at 8 p.m., when guests are checked in and given a warm meal. Each person also is provided with pillows and blankets for the night and breakfast, along with a bagged lunch.

Paul Dunkerley, co-chair of the student committee at CANA Lutheran Church in Berkley, has been involved with the program for 11 years and said it has grown each year. Participating churches try not to exclude anyone in need, he said.

"They don't have to be sober or even mentally stable. The only requirement we have is that they should not cause a disruption or be a threat to other people," Dunkerley said.

CANA has had only five altercations and no injuries among the guests during its 19 years of participation, said Paula Cardelli, who has been part of the committee at CANA since 1993.

The shelter moves to a new church every nine to 14 days and, on average, a church receives about 100 people per night.

The Berkley Public Safety Department has helped get the word out about the warming shelters and, each year, Deputy Director Robert North visits CANA to speak to the guests. CANA and the Berkley Community Church also post the schedule on library walls, where homeless people often go to warm up during the day. Dunkerley said  formal programs such as South Oakland Shelter also refer members to the warming shelters.

Cardelli, who runs the kitchen at CANA, has had experience managing the shelters, making dinner and handling occasional altercations.

"We have grown as a congregation. We have learned to respect the guests in terms of personal dignity, and it has been very fulfilling," Cardelli said.

The shelters receive a variety of visitors every year: Some are mentally disabled, others struggle with substance abuse and some are chronically homeless or just out of work and in need of temporary shelter. With ages ranging from 18 to 70, the shelters have very few restrictions.

Dunkerley said that for about 13 nights of hosting, the churches incur an average of $2,500 in expenses. Most funding comes from church members.

The program does not extend beyond food and shelter, but for serious cases such as the chronically homeless and those who are mentally challenged, the churches direct uests to Welcome Inn daytime shelter in Royal Oak.

The Welcome Inn offers breakfast, showers, laundry facilities, computer assistance for finding jobs, food stamps, income and even housing. The Inn also has nurses from Wayne State University who volunteer to give medical check-ups.

Roy Watson, executive director at the Welcome Inn and the building coordinator at the Berkley Community Church, said the Inn has been instrumental in getting an average of 15 to 20 people off the streets each year.

"We get as much, if not more, as the guests do," Cardelli said. "We have a different level of understanding than we had 19 years ago. They are treated not as pariahs, but members of our community."

The overnight shelter at CANA Lutheran Church is open Jan. 30 to Feb. 11. The Berkley Community Church shelter is open March 5-18. Those who would like to help can donate money, clothes, socks, paper plates and warm clothing to the churches or inquire about volunteering.